1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a light intercepting apparatus for use in a lens barrel that is movable in an optical axis direction of a camera photographing lens.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, many types of "zoom compact cameras" have been put on the market. Generally, a zoom compact camera has a movable lens barrel which is projected from and retracted into an opening formed in a front wall of a camera body. In order to achieve light interception around the movable lens barrel, an annular light intercepting member is ordinarily provided along the opening, and is brought into contact with an outer peripheral surface of the movable lens barrel in a slidable fashion. It is preferable that the annular light intercepting member is flexible and has the minimum frictional force necessary to adequately intercept light. Conventional annular light intercepting members are made of, for example, rubber, cloth, synthetic resin, felt, or brush, etc. However, these light intercepting members do not optimize the relationship between frictional force and light intercepting ability. For instance, in the case of a conventional annular light intercepting member made of rubber, the frictional force between the rubber intercepting member and the movable lens barrel is very large, resulting in an unnecessarily large burden on a motor used for moving the movable lens barrel. In the case of a conventional annular light intercepting member made of synthetic resin, it is often the case that scratches are made on the outer peripheral surface of the movable lens barrel. In the case of a conventional annular light intercepting member made of cloth or felt, a sufficient light intercepting effect cannot be obtained.